Boating along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. A number of new building projects have been launched in recent months. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Boating along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. A number of new building projects have been launched in recent months. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Boating along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. A number of new building projects have been launched in recent months. Khushnum Bhandari / The National
Boating along the Corniche in Abu Dhabi. A number of new building projects have been launched in recent months. Khushnum Bhandari / The National

Q Holding and Egypt's Ora to build smart city in Abu Dhabi's Ghantoot


Aarti Nagraj
  • English
  • Arabic

Abu Dhabi investment company Q Holding and Egypt's Ora Real Estate Development Group have signed a partnership agreement to develop a smart and sustainable city in the Ghantoot area of the UAE capital.

The mixed-use project will span more than 20 million square metres with residential, hotel, cultural, commercial, sporting and recreational services, the companies said in a joint statement on Monday.

It will "focus on renewable energy and sustainability", the statement added.

The financial details of the project were not disclosed.

The project is part of Q Holding's plans to expand its property investment portfolio in the UAE, company chairman Abdulla Al Hamed said.

The partnership will support Abu Dhabi's local economy, encourage property investment and attract investors, he said.

Q Holding and Ora said they aim to create a 'model for future sustainable integrated city developments'. Photo: Q Holding
Q Holding and Ora said they aim to create a 'model for future sustainable integrated city developments'. Photo: Q Holding

The UAE's property market has recovered from the coronavirus pandemic on the back of government drives, higher oil prices and other measures to support the economy.

Abu Dhabi's property sector grew 20.3 per cent annually in the first nine months of the year on a rise in investor interest in waterfront and island communities, the Abu Dhabi Media Office said this month, citing the latest data released by the Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi (Scad).

Several new waterfront developments have been launched in the emirate in recent months, including on Jubail Island, Saadiyat Island and Reem Island.

The emirate's property market recorded 4,441 transactions worth $5.7 billion in the three months to September, according to a report by the Department of Municipalities and Transport.

Established in 2005, Q Holding operates across sectors such as property, services and hospitality, and has diversified investments through its subsidiaries.

The company, formerly known as Al Qudra Holding, has been expanding its portfolio and in June acquired a 100 per cent stake in Reem Investments for Dh5.8 billion.

Egypt's Ora has a diversified property portfolio with a sales value of more than $12 billion across residential, hotel, cultural and recreational projects in Egypt, Greece, Cyprus, the Caribbean and Pakistan.

The company will leverage its experience to ensure the successful development of the Ghantoot region, said Naguib Sawiris, Ora's founder and chief executive.

"The vision for the development of the Ghantoot region is to establish a world-class city that provides a sustainable community fabric based on renewable energy and smart cities' technological development", the statement said.

Q Holding and Ora aim to create a "model for future sustainable integrated city developments", it added.

UK’s AI plan
  • AI ambassadors such as MIT economist Simon Johnson, Monzo cofounder Tom Blomfield and Google DeepMind’s Raia Hadsell
  • £10bn AI growth zone in South Wales to create 5,000 jobs
  • £100m of government support for startups building AI hardware products
  • £250m to train new AI models
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The specs

Engine: 4.0-litre V8 twin-turbocharged and three electric motors

Power: Combined output 920hp

Torque: 730Nm at 4,000-7,000rpm

Transmission: 8-speed dual-clutch automatic

Fuel consumption: 11.2L/100km

On sale: Now, deliveries expected later in 2025

Price: expected to start at Dh1,432,000

Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

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Australia: Aaron Finch (c), Mitchell Marsh, Alex Carey, Ashton Agar, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Lynn, Nathan Lyon, Glenn Maxwell, Ben McDermott, D’Arcy Short, Billy Stanlake, Mitchell Starc, Andrew Tye, Adam Zampa.

Pakistan: Sarfraz Ahmed (c), Fakhar Zaman, Mohammad Hafeez, Sahibzada Farhan, Babar Azam, Shoaib Malik, Asif Ali, Hussain Talat, Shadab Khan, Shaheen Shah Afridi, Usman Khan Shinwari, Hassan Ali, Imad Wasim, Waqas Maqsood, Faheem Ashraf.

The years Ramadan fell in May

1987

1954

1921

1888

Updated: March 06, 2023, 1:53 PM